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What is a ‘smart’ meter?‘Smart’ meters wirelessly transmit granular usage data to utilities and 3rd parties in as small as one-minute increments, have two antennas, receive and implement instructions, can control thermostats/appliance, etc. and make remote shut-off possible. What does ‘smart’ meter data indicate? It is the same size and shape as you old meter.

Northeast Utilities (NStar and WMECo),Massachusetts’ largest electric utility courageously declared the truth on 1/17/2014:
“There is no rational basis for the implementaion of AMI” (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) aka ‘smart’ meters/infrastructure)” in response to the Patrick Administration’s and MA Dept. of Public Utilities bid to hurriedly mandate so called ‘smart’ meters and their infrastructure via DPU Docket 12-76. See NStar’s comment: HMSM highlighted version or original at Mass.gov. Also see National Grid’s at DPU Mass.gov

MA Department of Public Utilities and our electricityproviders are deploying the multi-billion dollar (aproximately $7.5B if National Grid’s program is deployed in MA) so-called ‘smart’ meter ‘AMI’ Advanced Metering Initiative. Many hundreds of private antennae and 90′ data towers are being deployed in residential neighborhoods. (Will your neighborhood be next?)Attorney General Coakley estimates the cost to be $2,793 per meter.

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My husband had a heart attack last Aug. The last thing I want is something affecting his health. Does MA allow people to opt-out?
Do you know when this is set to be installed in Leicester/Cherry Valley>

Call you local rep and congressman and ask them to support the bill, and in the meantime you can contact your utility company, and also cc the Attn. General and tell the company that you do not want an RF transmitting meter on your home due to health concerns. Many meters in Massachusetts are already transmitting RF without the knowledge or consent of the residents.

Like many new innovations that include unfamiliar technologies, Smart Meters have their detractors. However, looking into the details behind this upgrade to our aged electic grid, I don’t see the support for some of the most widely discussed objections to smart meters.
1. Health concerns — there are many third-party sources, including the FCC that have measured the RF emissions from smart meters, and have found the RF emissions from smart meters to be safe, especially when compared with commonly used cell phones and microwave ovens which emit significantly higher levels.
2. Privacy concerns — utilities go to great lengths to safeguard their customer’s energy use data, and smart meters only register electric consumption data. What’s the risk here? The primary customer benefits gained from the smart meter’s 2-way communications are visibility of accurate, current energy management information which can help us reduce energy use and costs, and automatic reporting to the utility in case of a power outage — without making a phone call. These benefits allow customers to better control how they use their energy, and reduces response time by utilities when power is disrupted.
3. Cost concerns — smart meter nay sayers fail to explain that America’s current grid is extremly old with most of the electical infrastructure similar to the system installed prior to the 1940’s. Countries in Europe and Asia have far newer and more reliable power grids. We need to protect and ensure our energy reliability. To do this, we shouldn’t put off making a vital investment in America’s infrastructure which will support a more reliable energy future.

Like many new innovations that include unfamiliar technologies, Smart Meters have their detractors. However, looking into the details behind this upgrade to our aged electic grid, I don’t see the support for some of the most widely discussed objections to smart meters.

Dan, it is great to have you ‘in’ the conversation. I sincerely hope you respond to my comments below soon. Frankly I spend a lot of time with other ‘smart’ meter detractors and would enjoy a lively repartee.

Please note, however, we do not speak ill of improving the grid. We understand fully, and if you peruse this website you will find that we are clear that many grid improvements are both necessary and will be great uses of our money and safe for our children: improved feeders, switches and reclosers for example.

So-called ‘smart’ meters are a horse of another color entirely, however.

Health concerns — there are many third-party sources, including the FCC that have measured the RF emissions from smart meters, and have found the RF emissions from smart meters to be safe, especially when compared with commonly used cell phones and microwave ovens which emit significantly higher levels.

Dan, The FCC, in fact has not, to our knowledge declared RF / microwaves from ‘smart’ meters safe but if you have a source link please forward it. Two quotes I often cite are FCC: “Since the Commission is not a health and safety agency, we defer to other organizations and agencies with respect to interpreting the biological research necessary to determine what levels are safe.” & FCC: “It is generally agreed that further research is needed to determine the generality of (non-thermal) effects and their possible relevance, if any, to human health.”

Also, a National Grid document submitted to the Worcester City Council in response to a request “findings (National Grid) possess relative to health issues” was chock full of incomplete, deceitful comparisons and statements. For example, holding a walkie talkie (does not use the microwave frequencies) to ones head and a microwave oven at two inches compared to a ‘smart’ meter at ten feet… when ‘smart meter at one foot’ and ‘microwave oven at one meter (39ish inches), both more realistic are readily available from the same data source, Tell Associates. Puhlease. Targeting morons might work in the National Grid board room but out here in the real world we can smell bull when it is under our noses, even when it is presented in a pretty, colorful chart.

When DPU mandates that no utility, under any circumstances barring lawful warrant can release one iota of customer data, whether it correlates directly with their account number, name, etc. to any third party under any circumstances under penalty of dissolution of said utility in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts AND that all persons with access to ratepayer usage data be fully vetted, undergo criminal background checks and that a system in in place whereby the data viewed is, every single time directly related to the current project that person is tasked with, we can talk.

National Grid’s “How is my privacy protected? … It is not shared with any of your neighbors.” falls a bit short (!) say the least.

Without warrants, a California utility turned over 3,807 customers‘2012 ‘smart’ meter consumption data to state and federal agencies including FBI & DEA: 74% without subpoenas. Unspecified data for 62 customers was supplied to unspecified third parties. California is the proving ground for many things, including ‘smart’ meters.

The primary customer benefits gained from the smart meter’s 2-way communications are visibility of accurate, current energy management information which can help us reduce energy use and costs, and automatic reporting to the utility in case of a power outage — without making a phone call. These benefits allow customers to better control how they use their energy, and reduces response time by utilities when power is disrupted.

The precise, somewhat faster outage mapping facilitated by ‘smart’ meters’ last gasp is real. However, it is clear that the data does not reduce outage duration: that is accomplished by smarter switches, feeders and reclosers, etc. If you have a source link definitively stating that outage duration is, indeed shortened by ‘smart’ meters and not the other improvements listed above please forward it ASAP.

Also, the data utilities have had access to for decades did not include lifestyle details such as ‘smart’ meters will produce. This is a whole new ballgame.

Customers can ‘control’ their energy usage by flipping a switch to turn something off or even delaying turning something on, like a dishwasher, for example until post peak. These meters ‘allow’ nothing. They facilitate on-line viewing of usage patterns that NStar clearly states that few look at. Dan, I know when I do laundry. I know when I cook dinner (just before dinner time.) I know that my ‘fridge and water heater work all day. Don’t you?

NStar noted that only a tiny portion of those in their ongoing Massachusetts pilot (Boston, Newton and Hopkinton) utilize the wonderful new tools so they can see the pretty chart that tells them when they did a load of laundry.

3. Cost concerns — smart meter nay sayers fail to explain that America’s current grid is extremly old with most of the electical infrastructure similar to the system installed prior to the 1940’s. Countries in Europe and Asia have far newer and more reliable power grids. We need to protect and ensure our energy reliability. To do this, we shouldn’t put off making a vital investment in America’s infrastructure which will support a more reliable energy future.

Here here. Smarter grid in Massachusetts? YES. 7.6 Billion Dollars for so-called ‘smart’ meters, etc.? NOT WHILE I HAVE BREATH IN MY BODY.

I recently went to pick up a replacement device for my old CPAP machine, for sleep apnea. The new CPAP device has a removable data chip so medicare can verify usage. I noticed an antennae on the new CPAP and I asked the medical supply rep what it was for. He stated that it was a wireless transmitter that would transmit usage data to medicare. I said it already has a data chip in it and why the need for a wireless transmitter? He replied that it was a medicare requirement. I replied that I rejected the wireless transmitter on the grounds of health concerns and asked him to remove it or I would reject it. I stated that anyone aware of EMF damage would not want a wireless transmitter next to their bed all night long. He removed it and said he would need to make a notation on my file and that Medicare could confiscate the device if they wanted to.

Does Westminster have a program install smart meters? We discovered an Itron Centron Cl 200 on our home about six months ago after having some severe health problems. None of our neighbors have this type of meter and the folks at town hall have no information. Nat grid tells us the meter was put on in 2005.

Hi Tracey, look for an FCC ID on your meter, it could be on the face, or hidden on the underside, and then you can look up the specifications. There are many different kinds of meters in the mix in MA. Ask the utility company;

How many RF transmitters does my meter contain?
How often does it transmit?
What future functionality does it have?

Property Rights Council to Hold Press Conference and Flag Raising on Boston’s City Hall Plaza
The newly formed Massachusetts Property Rights Council will hold its first press conference on City Hall Plaza in Boston Monday June, 12:00 Noon. The conference will feature Mr. Dave Kopacz, a founder of the council and the conservation officer for the town of Ware, the Patriot Pastor, Garrett Lear, and Mr, Rich Howell, co-founder of the council. At the conclusion of the conference, a Gadsden Flag will be raised in the plaza.
The council was founded by a number of property rights activists from around the state who have been opposing Agenda 21, Green Communities, and actions taken on behalf of the towns and states implementing aspects of Agenda 21.

For more information please call (857) 498-1309 http://massprc.com/https://www.facebook.com/groups/474188812654136/
Massachusetts Property Rights Council has profound concerns over the continuous degradation of private property rights and the shift towards government control of these critical private sector assets. The individual right to own property is unique to America and inseparable from the ability to create wealth. Due to the alarming increase in government ownership / control of our private lands and the aggressive regulatory environment that serves to perpetuate this trend, it has become absolutely essential that citizens take an immediate interest in understanding these critically important issues.
MassPRC is committed to reviewing existing and proposed land use policies that threaten to weaken YOUR property rights and serve to outsource local control to government agencies or their Public-Private-Partners.
Massachusetts land owners AND municipalities are under regulatory attack! As individual property rights are systematically extinguished and municipalities are “financially incentivised” to operate within a predefined government framework, critical property rights will continue to be eroded while economic potential is shifted away from the private sector.

Hi Hal, please ask your group to contact their reps in support of Bill H2926, and if you have any members in Worcester who are part of the smart meter pilot program, they already have the option to opt out at any time. Unless the bill passes, however, MA residents will not have this right. Thank you so much.

Hi Rebecca, we just testified on behalf of the bill to allow residents a choice for their utility meters. Please call your reps, and you can also still submit written testimony in support of the bill to the Joint Committee for Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. Address it to the co-chairs:

I look forward to meeting and working with everyone. Is there an afiliation and or member’s in my area of Plymouth? This is a very difficult, uphill journey, but a challenge has alway’s been my forte’……
Best Regards,
Blessings to all……….

Hi Ann, thank you for writing. Please write to and call your reps, etc. and ask them to support Bill H2926, which will require that MA residents Opt-in to the smart meter program. You can also still submit written testimony to the Joint Committee for Telecommunications, Utility, and Energy in support of the bill. If you have neighbors and friends who might be interested, you can get together and watch the testimony for the bill at the statehouse….

A candidate for mayor in my city is saying that there is a MA law mandating smart water meters. They say the legislature voted for it. I would like to see and read it. The reason for my question is that I heard a lawyer during a Worcester TV program say that Regulations on Utilities in MA say that , when offering a new program, Utilities are required ask consumers to Opt-In if they so choose. Is that correct?
He also says
1- That every city /mayor in MA has signed a contract to buy these smart meters. It is a contract … we have to obey/follow
The city payed millions … we have to obey
2- – because we don’t own own the water meters and the MWRA does they can take it out and replace it and we cannot lock it.

Karen,
Are you in the NStar pilot program (Newton, Boston & Hopkinton)?
I would guess that you do not have ‘smarts’ meter per se (AMI, Advanced Metering Initiative-type i.e. can receive instructions and be shut off remotely). I would guess that you have an AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) meters. They used to drive down the street and read them but many now, we are 99.9% sure use a ‘fixed network’ whereby a unsuspecting house is ‘the truck.’

Some people are demanding that even AMR meters be removed as they, too transmit microwaves thousands of times per day. We think the transmissions have been significantly ramped up since they were installed.

You can find out many details on your meter at http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/ but first you need to find the “FCC ID” on your meter. It is either printed in tiny letters/numbers on the face or on a sticker somewhere under the glass. Many are unreadable because you can’t contort properly. I usually just take a bunch of pictures until one is readable. The ID is six to tenish characters after “FCC ID:” Be careful with ones and letter ‘L” and zeros and ‘O” – also hyphens. What you input at the site above must be absolutely exact.

If you call NStar I suggest that you do not use the term ‘smart’ meter (not a technical term) but instead ask about the microwave emissions and whether it transmits only OR transmits & receives. Beware, National Grid lied to me on the phone and told me my meter does not transmit and
a meter reader reads it once a month. I know this for sure because I measured the microwave pulses with a scientific instrument.

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about
this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few
pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is magnificent blog.

I am being forced to put a smart meter on my home from the water department in Salem, MA. They have increased our bill by double because we have not complied and it is now a city ordinance that they can charge up to double for our water because we have not switched to the smart meter. Today I got a legal letter stating that if we do not contact the water company to install the meter within 3 days according to the city ordinance we will be fined. How do we fight this if it is the city forcing it?

Hi Kathryn, It would help a great deal if you could contact your senators and reps, the Attorney General, and the DPU. We have an opt out bill H2926 we are trying to pass in MA that would allow an opt-out at no charge, but we have a ways to go. I am sorry we can’t get it off for you (yet). Please keep in touch.
Patricia

What is the status of this bill in MA currently? Is it still a good idea to contact senators, etc. –is there a website we can contact from (send a letter)…? I am in Quincy, MA and not sure if I have a smart meter–it looks like the analog meter. I hav e read these comments though and will go check for an FCC no.

I would like to join any effort to remove all smart meters in Mass. I think I am emf-sensitive–get awful headaches near routers, wake up at night to strange feeling of waves over my head, etc. I understand cell tower antennas are also emitting radiation at weird times including the middle of the night and would like to get all of this to stop!

Hi Grace,
Governor Patrick has recently signed a bill 12-76 calling for MA utilities to adopt smart metering. The deadline for comments is Friday January 17. Please consider contacting all of your legislators, etc.

Thank you for this information. I first heard about these Smart Meters recently on the Jeff Kuhnar radio show. Suggestion: that you put in social media links in order to get the word out about these nasty meters. I would like to post to Facebook.
Lisa

that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of. RF emissions when will just wipe out all things that produce RF. Firstly go after cell phone towers, transmitters, & handsets… to go after radio and TV because those are enormous producers of emissions. we forget all the communication devices surrounding the aircraft industry, police, fire, Hamm radio… please remove all the wifi from your house, get rid of your wireless printers, cordless phones… is actually quite enormous. Maybe those are more related to the health problems you’re finding.
And if you are worried about your husband’s health problems, then I advise you invest in a treadmill…or maybe reduce your intake of saturated fats. Thank you.

Please note that despite assurances of privacy and safety, “smart” meters have already been spoofed and hacked. (See. e.g., Neighborhood Watch: Security and Privacy Analysis of Automatic Meter Reading Systems,” by Ishtiaq Rouf, Hoseen Mustafa, Miao Xu, and Wenyuan Xu at University of South Carolina; Rob Miller of Applied Communications Sciences; and Marco Gruteser at Rutgers University. Published in the Proceedings of the 2012 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security. http://dl.acm.org/ citation.cfm?id =2382246.)

I, for one, do not feel safe when a hacker is able to track my pattern of utilities usage to determine my schedule… or when a hacker or terrorist can gain access to shut down the system. Do you?

Please note that ,despite assurances of privacy and safety, “smart” meters have already been spoofed and hacked. (See. e.g., Neighborhood Watch: Security and Privacy Analysis of Automatic Meter Reading Systems,” by Ishtiaq Rouf, Hoseen Mustafa, Miao Xu, and Wenyuan Xu at University of South Carolina; Rob Miller of Applied Communications Sciences; and Marco Gruteser at Rutgers University. Published in the Proceedings of the 2012 ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security. http://dl.acm.org/ citation.cfm?id =2382246.)

I, for one, do not feel safe when a hacker is able to track my pattern of utilities usage to determine my schedule… or when a hacker or terrorist can gain access to shut down the system. Do you?

Does anyone reading about the effects of these meters have any experience with Orgonite?

Apparently it can mitigate the effects of the waves these things are sending. I don’t know the technical details but I’ve read many reports (look up D0n and Carol Croft, they report on their “adventures” around the country dropping Orgonite near “cell towers”).

Reading here that a lot of towers are going up, so that they can read these “smart” meters, well that now makes some sense. Don and Carol’s writings had mentioned that these “look like cell towers, but aren’t” and they weren’t sure what these towers were for — but that they cause adverse health effects in people. Perhaps the towers they had identified as “not cell towers” are these “smart” meter towers?

Also look up “towerbusters” which are made of Orgonite and can be purchased for $4 each or so (or you can buy a kit to make them).

I’ve put four large pieces on the corners of my house, as well as four more on the corners of my property.

NV anti smart meter activists are wishing you a speedy resolution to halt the deployment of these spy/fry meters.

It’s a long and drawn out fight, but, NEVER give up, when it looks like the ENEMY might win!

We got the analog opt out literally at the last minute. One the last day for our PUC to make a decision, one Commissioner came forward and said ‘maybe we haven’t given the analog enough consideration’.

Then about 6 months later, we got the state legislature to agree to make ANY time of use to be OPTIONAL, not mandatory, people have to REQUEST the TOU. Our final ‘win’ came when part of the Warren Buffet buy out of our power company, was that the analog option was NOT to be a trial, but PERMANENT!

STAY FOCUSED and UNITED…we are winning on a national level to keep the analogs!

FYI, if your power company TRIES to bring in an EXPERT from a company called EXPONENT, don’t be afraid, REJOICE…for these are the same liars who:

1. claimed that asbestos was SAFE
2. in October 2012, stated that the SAME meters that they testified here in NV as being SAFE, claimed they were NOT SAFE for PECO in PA!